Last.



l. H. POPE.

LAST.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. 1911.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Jade 1% U ITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

JOSEPH HORACE POPE, OF HAIVITLTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATER-SON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LAST.

Application filed November 2, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. Porn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hamilton, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Lasts, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indi cating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to lasts in which a sole retaining device is used.

Heretofore sole retaining devices have been used in connection with lasts in order to obviate the necessity of tacking insoles to the last. These lasts have been objectionable because the sharp pronged portion of the retaining device was free to protrude from .the surface of the last causing damage to 'other' lasts and discomfort to the operatives in handling the lasts and because these protruding prongs were subjected to breakage and wear due to their contact with other objects when not in actual use.

' An object of this invention is to provide a last having a sole retaining member which is capable of positively maintaining the last and a sole placed thereon from all relative movement parallel to the surface of the last bottom except that movement incident to the removal of the last from the shoe after the shoe is completed.

It is also an object of this invention to provide means for automatically retracting the retaining member from operative position into a position within the last simultaneously with the withdrawal of the last from the shoe, and for maintaining the retaining member after the withdrawal of the last from the shoe in this retracted position until manually replaced in operative position.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, Figure 1 shows a last in which is incorporated retaining devices constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the retaining device as detached, from the last and viewed from a point slightly beneath the last surface; Fig. 3 shows a modification embodying the invention in which the feature of holding the sole retaining prong in inoperative posi- "tion is not included.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, 1 represents a last having several sole retaining de- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Serial No. 658,209.

pending from the plate at opposite sides of the slot form bearings for a pivot 5 that rotatably supports the retaining member 6. This member comprises an eccentric cam portion the highest point of which is indicated at 9, two stop lugs 10 and 11 respectively which are arranged to engage the lower surface of the plate 3 at opposite ends of the slot, and a prong 12 that is designed either to project through the slot in the plate 3 in position to enter and retain a sole, or to be moved into a retracted position Within the slot. A coiled spring 7 has its ends attached to the pivot 5 at opposite sides of the lugs 4 and comprises two coils seated in notches formed by the junction of the ends of the lugs with the plate 3 and a loop which connects the coils, straddles the retaining member 6 and engages the cam portion of this member.

It will be observed that, when the prong is in its operative or protruding position, the stop lug 11 will be in contact with the plate 3 and that in this position the loop of the spring 7 will be in engagement with a low portion of the cam surface at the left of the highest point 9; while, when the prong is swung into its inoperative or retracted position, the stop lug 10 then engages the plate 3 and the spring 7 is moved into engagement with a portion of the cam at the right of the highest point. The spring 7 tends to assume a position in which the loop extends between and substantially parallel with the ends. Consequently during the movement of the retaining member from either of its extreme positions, the highest point of'the cam swings the loop away from the ends of the spring, thus tensioning the spring. The spring resists the movement of the retaining member 6 until the highest point of the cam passes the loop, but from this point on the spring aids the movement of the retaining member. It will be evident, therefore, that the spring tends to retain the member 6 in either one of its extreme posimanually placed, by means of the tool 13, with its prong 12 in protruding position, in which position it is yieldingly retained by the spring 7. An insole is then placed upon the bottom of the last 1 where it is held against movement transversely or laterally of the last by the prongs 12 until the last 1 is withdrawn from the shoe. The removal of the last from the shoe causes a relative movement of the insole toward the toe of the last, turning the prong 12 of the retaining member toward the toe of the last against the action of the spring 7 until the spring, in conjunction with the cam surface 9 of the retaining member, completes the movement of the prong into its retracted position. The spring 7 then yieldingly maintains the retaining member in inoperative position until said member is again placed in operative position by means of the tool 13.

The modification of my invention shown in Fig. 3 comprises a socket member 19 slotted to receive the retaining member 18, this member being pivotally supported therein by a pin 17. The member 18 has a sole retaining prong 12, and a spring 14, interposed between an extension from the member :18 and a seat formed'in the socket member 19, operates normally to retain the prong 'in its protruding or operative position, but allows it to turn about the pivot 17 into a-retracted or inoperative position. A seat 16 in the socket 19 engages a part of the member 18 and limits its movement under the influence of the spring 14. It will be noted that the retaining device in this embodiment of the invention also is mounted ,to swing yieldingly toward the toe of the lastupon the removal of the last from the shoe.

,Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is '1. A last having a sole retaining prong movable into operative or inoperative position, and means for retaining said prong in operative position, said prong being constructed and mounted to be moved into inoperative positionby the withdrawal of that .part of the last which contains the prong from the shoe.

2. A last having a sole retaining prong movable into operative or inoperative position, said prong being mounted to be moved into inoperative position by the relative movement of the last and sole during the Withdrawal of the last from the shoe, and means for yieldingly holding said prong in operative position.

'3. A last having a sole retaining prong mounted for swinging movement into a plurality ofvpositions and means for maintaining said prong in any one of said positions.

4. A last having a sole retaining prong mounted for movement'into operative or inoperative position and means for yieldingly retaining said prong in each of said posi tions.

5. A last having a sole retaining prong, means supporting said prong for swinging movement into operative or inoperative position and yielding means for retaining said prong in each of said positions.

6. A last having a sole retaining member, supporting means for said member enabling it to swing from operative to inoperative position by the relative movement of the sole on the last toward the toe of the last, and means bearing on said member for retaining it in operative position.

7. A last having a sole retaining prong mounted for movement into operative or inoperative position, said prong being constructed to be moved into inoperative position by the withdrawal of the last from the shoe, and automatic means for retaining the prong in inoperative position.

8. A last having a sole retaining prong mounted for movement into operative or inoperative position and means continuously cooperating with the prong to resist its movement away from either of said positions.

9. A last having a sole retaining prong mounted for movement into operative or inoperative position, and yielding a part movable with said prong, means bearing on said part, said part being shaped to tension said yielding means upon the initial movement of the prong away from either of said positions.

10. A last having a sole retaining prong movable into a plurality of positions, and means cooperating with said prong to resist its initial movement from one position'to another and thereafter toassist such movement.

11. A last having a pronged sole retaining member mounted for movement into operative or inoperative position, said member comprising a sole retaining prong and stop lugs constructed to limit the extent of movement of said member and means for retaining the prong in one of said positions.

12. A last having a pronged sole retaining member provided with a cam shaped portion and stop lugs, means supporting said member for movement of its prong into operative or inoperative position, and yielding means bearing on said cam surfaceand operating to resist the movement of said member away from either of said positions.

13. A sole retaining device for'lasts comprising a support constructed for attachment to the bottom of a last, a pronged sole retaining member mounted in said support to swing from an operative to an inoperative position, said support beingprovided with cooperating surfaces to limit the movements of said member, and a spring acting on said member to resist its movement away from either of said positions.

14. A sole retaining device for lasts comprising a slotted attaching plate, lugs depending from said plate on opposite sides of the slot, a pronged sole retaining member pivotally supported in said lugs to swing from a position approximately perpendicular to the bottom of a last to a position substantially within the last, stop lugs carried by said member and cooperating with said plate to limit the movements of said member, a cam carried by said member and a spring Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the engaged by said cam, said cam and spring being shaped and arranged to cause the 15 spring to be tensioned upon the movement of said member away from either of its extreme positions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 20 two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH HORACE PUPE.

Witnesses:

CHESTER E. RoGERs, LAURA M. GOODRIDGE.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,137,421, granted April 27',

1915, upon the application of Joseph Horace Pope, of Hamilton, Massachusetts,

for an improvement in Lasts, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 96, claim 9, strike out the words and yielding;

same page and claim, line 97, before the word means insert the words and yielding; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the ease in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 5th day of October, A. D., 1915.

[SEAL] R. F. WHITEHEAD,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

